Dr. Curtis L. Odom

Principal and Managing Partner, Prescient Strategists, LLC.

Dr. Curtis L. Odom is a human capital strategist, management consultant, entrepreneur, professional speaker, published author, and an executive coach. Dr. Curtis L. Odom is Principal and Managing Partner of the Boston based consultancy, Prescient Strategists, LLC. As Principal, Dr. Odom partners closely with clients to achieve the 5Rs of talent management for their organization by having the Right people, with the Right skills, in the Right roles, at the Right time, for the Right cost. Dr. Odom’s articles, interviews, blog postings, and book excerpts have been featured online with Fortune Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, CNBC Online, Ebony Magazine, The Globe and Mail, Training Magazine, along with numerous other print and online publications. Dr. Odom is also author of the books Stuck In the Middle: A Generation X View of Talent Management, and Generation X Approved: Top 20 Keys to Effective Leadership.

Good coaches have a special quality about them. They are able to get you to a place where you feel confident enough to take on a challenge or comfortable enough to confront an issue. If you are thinking about moving your career along, or are thinking about how to coach someone who is ready to jump, keep in mind the following tenets.

There are days, I am sure, that you sit in your office and you hide from your work. You go unnoticed in plain sight. And then there are the days that you are so consumed by your work that you forget to grab lunch. You are still hidden in plain sight. Only thing people see is you in distress. If you want to move in your career, and get unstuck, think about who sees you, what they see.

We have created a political system bent on sound bites and quick hitting verbal assaults. We like the one-liner and a good zinger. But as leaders, this is not realistic. We need people to stand up for integrity. Without it, there is no trust, and without trust there is no real communication.

I am not making a case that change is bad, but I am saying that for change to work, that is, for it to be sustainable, it needs to become a habit. And it feels like the only habit that we know right now is how to change. Not how to sustain it.

If you want performance out of your people it is time that you start coaching them. Coaching is a balance between art and science. You do not want to appear that you are micro-managing your people, but you do not want to leave them in the wilderness.

It was just that time of year again and everyone was dreading it. No, I am not talking about the recent holiday shopping madness, the traffic, the congestion or the lines. I am talking about end of year performance management.

It's a new year. Time to dust off that old piece of paper with your goals from last year and take a moment to compare what you set out to accomplish with what you actually got done. Did you hit all of your goals?
If so, then shame on you! Set them higher this year and really push yourself! It's not supposed to be easy.

The unwritten rule in the NFL is that when players take a knee with the game conceivably out of reach, the other team backs down and lets them. But when the New York Giants Quarterback, Eli Manning, went to kneel down and run out the clock he instead got tripped up by a Buccaneers defensive lineman because the Buccaneers' coach insists that his teams play until the final whistle. Was this a true display of leadership?

If the labour market does indeed turn, and it becomes a buyers' market, are you ready to attract the best talent? This change could be big. Is your company positioned well enough in the market to keep your current high potentials and simultaneously attract new A-players?

There was a lot of anxious hysteria in my neck of the woods recently. People were lining up in the hopes of hitting it big on the Powerball jackpot. People were pinning their next career move on winning. But why? And what does that say about your current job? Well, I am guessing you don't like it. But I have news for you... the lottery is not a valid career plan.

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/generation-y" target="_hplink"><img alt="2012-11-19-slavkoaskingybanner.jpg" src="http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2012-11-19-slavkoaskingybanner.jpg" width="300" height="70" /></a> There's a lot of talk about how to engage Millenials and Gen X out there, but little is being said about how to engage an aging workforce and the Boomers. Boomers are at the stage in their career where they're starting to think about the legacy they leave behind, the challenges they overcame and the success that they built. It may not be easy, but its the right time to tap into this and use it to your company's advantage.

Recent graduates have traditionally been able to take time to learn on the job, working under the protection of more seasoned employees. But once things turn around and Boomers leave, these unemployed will be asked to jump right into the organization, and they will not have had the benefit of time. Is your organization prepared for this?

It is becoming increasingly important for us to be able to work across generations in the workplace. The Boomers are starting to leave, Gen X is more than ready to assume more of the leadership roles, and Gen Y is getting antsy. In keeping with that thinking, I am suggesting that as Gen X leaders, we keep these five tips in mind as we prepare to lead the Gen Y workforce.

There is an initial transaction between someone applying for a position and their prospective employer, the company looking to fill a position. It involves something that many Gen Xers are uncomfortable with but exists in the job market -- and in their career climb. It is the need to know how to position and present yourself, or sell yourself. This is especially important in today's recession-wracked business environment.